The Sailor's Word-Book Part 169

MUNNIONS, OR MUNTINS. The divisional pieces of the stern-lights; the pieces that separate the lights in the galleries.

MURaeNA. An eel-like fish, very highly esteemed by the ancient Romans.

MURDERER. The name formerly used for large blunderbusses, as well as for those small pieces of ordnance which were loaded by shifting metal chambers placed in the breech.

MURLOCH. The young pickled dog-fish.

MURRE. The Cornish name for the razor-bill, _Alca torda_.

MURROCH. A term for sh.e.l.l-fish in general on the west coast of Scotland.

MUSKET. The regulation fire-arm for infantry and small-arm men. That of the English service, when a smooth bore, threw its bullet of about an ounce 250 yards with good effect; now, rifling has trebled its range, whilst breech-loading has done at least as much by its rapidity of fire.

MUSKET-ARROWS. Used in our early fleets, and for conveying notices in 1815.

MUSKETEERS. An early name for those soldiers who were armed with muskets.

MUSKETOON. A short kind of blunderbuss with a large bore, to carry several musket or pistol bullets; it was much used on boat service. They were mounted on swivel crutches, and termed top-pieces; quarter pieces in barges and pinnaces, where timbers were especially fitted for them.

MUSKET-PROOF. Any bulk-head, parapet, or substance which effectually resists the force of a musket-ball.

MUSKET-SHOT. Was the computed distance of 400 yards, now undergoing change.

MUSLIN, OR DIMITY. The flying kites of a ship. "Give her the muslin," or "Spare not the dimity," frequently used in tropical chase of slavers.

MUSTER, TO. To a.s.semble in order that the state and condition of the men may be seen, and also at times to inspect their arms and clothing.

MUSTER-BOOK. A copy of a ship of war's open list, drawn up for the use of the clerk of the check, in calling over the crew. A copy of the muster-book is to be transmitted every two months to the admiralty.

MUSTER-PAPER. A description of paper supplied from the dockyards, ruled and headed, for making ships' books.

MUSTER-ROLL. A doc.u.ment kept by the master of every British vessel, specifying the name, age, quality, and country of every person of the ship's company; even neutrals are compelled to produce such a paper in time of war.

MUSTER THE WATCH. A duty performed nightly at 8 P.M., and repeated when the watch is relieved up to 4 A.M.

MUTCHKIN. A pint measure.

MUTILATION. The crime of self-maiming to avoid serving.

MUTINOUS. Showing symptoms of sedition.

MUTINY. Revolt or determined disobedience of regular authority by soldiers or sailors, and punishable with death. Shakspeare makes Hamlet sleep

"Worse than the _mutines_ in the bilboes."

MUTINY-ACT. On this doc.u.ment the Articles of War are founded.

MUTTON-SNAPPER. A large fish of the _Mesoprion_ genus, frequenting tropical seas, and prized in the Jamaica markets. (_See_ SNAPPER.)

MUZZLE OF A PIECE OF ORDNANCE. The forward extremity of the cylinder, and the metal which surrounds it, extending back to the neck, where it meets the chase, marked by a moulded ring in old guns.

MUZZLE-LASHINGS. The ropes which confine the muzzles of lower-deck guns to the housing bolts.

MUZZLE-RING. That which encompa.s.sed and strengthened the muzzle or mouth of a cannon; now disused.

MUZZLE TO THE RIGHT, OR MUZZLE TO THE LEFT! The order given to trim the gun to the object.

MUZZY. Half-drunk.

MYLKERE. The old English name for the milt of a fish.

MYOPARA. An ancient corsair's vessel.

MYRMIDON [from _mur-medon_, a sea-captain]. The Myrmidons were a people of Thessaly, said to have first constructed ships.

MYSERECORD. A thin-bladed dagger with which a grievously wounded warrior was despatched as an act of mercy.

MYTH. Obelisk, tower, land, or anything for directing the course by sight.

N.

NAB. The bolt-toe, or c.o.c.k of a gun-lock.

NABB. A cant term for the head. Also, a protuberance on the rocky summit of a hill; a rocky ledge below water.

NACA, OR NACELLE. A French boat without mast or sail, used as early as the twelfth century.

NACRE. The mother-of-pearl which lines some sh.e.l.ls, both univalve and bivalve.

NACTA. A small transport vessel of early times.

NADIR. The lower pole of the rational horizon, the other being the zenith.

NAID. A northern term for a lamprey, or large eel.

NAIL, TO. Is colloquially used for binding a person to a bargain. In weighing articles of food, a nail is 8 lbs.

NAILING A GUN. Synonymous with _cloying_ or _spiking_. When necessary to abandon cannon, or when the enemy's artillery, though seized, cannot be taken away, it is proper to spike it, which is done by driving a steel or other spike into the vent. The best method sometimes to render a gun serviceable again is to drill a new vent. (_See_ SPIKING.)

NAILS OF SORTS. Nails used in carpentry under the denominations of 4, 6, 8, 10, 24, 30, and 40 penny-nails, all of different lengths.

NAKE! The old word to unsheath swords, or make them naked.

NAKED. State of a ship's bottom without sheathing. Also, a place without means of defence.